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Melyda Corado, 27, was a manager at the Trader Joe’s store in Silver Lake where a man suspected of shooting his grandmother fled following a police pursuit. Corado was shot when the suspect and police exchanged gunfire, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. (Photo courtesy of Corado family)

Corado was shot immediately before the tense, three-hour hostage situation that unfolded inside the Trader Joe’s supermarket in Silver Lake, following a police chase with the suspect in a South L.A. shooting. The incident ended with the wounded suspect handcuffing himself and surrendering to police, authorities said.

“The source of that round, we’ve recovered it, and ballistically we believe it’s from one of the two officers,” Moore told reporters. “The fatal bullet first hit (Corado’s) arm, then entered her body.”

He described how officers have to make “tough calls” and how police did not know if 28-year-old suspect Gene Evin Atkins would continue his assault after leading them on a pursuit in a stolen Toyota Camry and shooting at officers as he tried to flee. Police believed Atkins shot his grandmother and girlfriend earlier at a home in the 1600 block of East 32nd Street before escaping in the car.

Police came across the driver in the Hollywood area, and chase him until he crashed into a pole outside the store on Hyperion Avenue near Griffith Park Boulevard, police said.

He got out of the car and shot at officers, who returned gunfire. Corado was hit by a police bullet as she was going outside to the scene and Atkins ran inside. Wounded, she went back into the store and collapsed by the manager’s desk.

“(The officers) had to make a split-second decision,” Moore said. “I’m here to say that that is the worst, worst decision that any officer ever wishes to have to make.”

Moore described the two Hollywood-area officers on scene as “solid.” One of them has been an officer for two years and the other was a six-year veteran. Their names were expected to be released later this week.

Atkins was charged Tuesday with nearly two dozen counts, including murder. Although he did not fire that gunshot that killed Corado, he can be charged with her killing if he set off the chain of events that led to her death.

Atkins was being held Tuesday in lieu of $9 million bail. He appeared in court later that day, but his arraignment was continued to Aug. 14.

His 76-year-old grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Madison, remains hospitalized in critical condition. His 17-year-old girlfriend was treated for a gunshot wound to the head, and is in fair condition, authorities said.

Atkins’ cousin, Charleo Egland, said on Saturday that wasn’t sure what prompted the shooting. But she said the Madison did not want Atkins’ girlfriend in the home, which Egland said led to the fight.

Another cousin, Deshon Hayward, said in a statement Monday to that Madison was “in good spirits.’’

“She has a long journey ahead but everything is looking good,” he said. “We would like to send our deepest condolences to everyone that was affected by this horrible tragedy.”

The Trader Joe’s store was still closed Monday, as a memorial made up of handwritten signs and flowers grew outside the building.

Video released

At LAPD’s downtown headquarters Tuesday morning, Moore said he was releasing the body-cam and dash-cam videos to give a “snapshot” of what happened.

The five-and-a-half minute video first shown at the headquarters, then later published to YouTube, begins with dash-cam footage from the police cruiser chasing the stolen Camry through parts of Echo Park and Silver Lake in northeast L.A.

The fleeing driver swerves in and out of traffic on Glendale Boulevard, then on Rowena Avenue. While still driving on Rowena, one of the officers says they’re being shot at as the rear window of the Camry explodes.

“Oh!,” the male officer says, according to the LAPD transcript of the video. “Shots fired, broadcast.”

“Alright partner, I got my gun out,” a female officer says.

About 30 seconds later, the Camry drives through traffic at the intersection of Rowena and Hyperion Avenue. The officers drive through a parking lot to get around the traffic, then continue the chase on Hyperion, while telling an airship that they’re keeping their distance because of the gunfire.

At about the two-minute mark of the video, the fleeing driver swerves to the left across opposite lanes of traffic and crashes into the telephone pole in front of the Trader Joe’s. The officers come to a stop on the other side of the intersection.

The driver opens then opens his door and begins to flee into the store while firing a handgun at the officers, who return fire.

The body-cam footage released on Tuesday was obtained from both the male officer driving the cruiser and the female officer in the passenger seat. As the cruiser stops following the crash and both officers start to get out, two shots can be heard.

Both officers fire in the direction of the Trader Joe’s entrance while using the cruiser doors as cover. After the suspect goes inside the store, both officers dash across the street to a wall just outside a cheese shop on the other side of a parking lot from the market.

A loud ricochet can be heard, and both officers crouch behind the concrete wall as the suspect continues firing at them from inside the market. Moore said surveillance footage from the store showed the man firing from behind a produce stand.

A more comprehensive video will also be released within 45 days of the shootout. Final written and video reports on LAPD police shootings that are reviewed by the police commission and Office of Inspector General typically take at least 10 months before they’re submitted to the district attorney’s office.

Tuesday’s quick release of the videos of the shootout was a departure from the past, when LAPD officials often refused to release any footage of police shootings. But the city’s civilian police commission voted in March to mandate that all videos of “critical incidents” be eventually be released.

Moore said he expected that the video would likely be closely analyzed by the community and become the subject of discussion by police critics questioning the officers’ tactics. But he also asked residents to ask themselves what they would have done in the same situation.

However, others who knew the dead woman criticized the LAPD officers’ actions, asking why they fired their weapons in the direction of a busy market full of shoppers.

On Twitter, Jamie Manelis, who described herself as a friend of Corado, said there was “no way that shooting into a crowded public space was correct protocol.”

Corado’s brother, Albert, also said on Twitter that he went to a candlelight memorial outside the Trader Joe’s where his sister worked on Monday.

“The amount of people who have left flowers and notes and have lit candles is astonishing,” he said. “Saw so many of her coworkers and people who came to celebrate my sister’s life.”

In a statement on Twitter, Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is traveling out of the country, called the shooting on a Saturday “a dark day for the family of Melyda Corado.” He said he met with the dead woman’s father the day of the shooting, and committed to completing “a thorough investigation and helping the family in any way possible.”

“It is our responsibility to shed light as quickly as possible on what happened,” the mayor said in the statement. “Melyda’s loved ones are entitled to answers — and Angelenos deserve complete transparency in understanding the full circumstances of her death.”

Joshua Cain is a crime and public safety reporter for the Southern California News Group, based at the L.A. Daily News in Woodland Hills. He has worked for SCNG since 2016, previously as a digital news editor in the San Gabriel Valley, helping cover breaking news, crime and local politics.

Sean Emery is a crime and public safety reporter for the Register who covers state and federal courts and criminal justice issues. He has worked for the Register since 2006, previously covering breaking news, the city of Irvine, the Orange County Great Park, and the city of San Juan Capistrano.

Alma Fausto is a crime, breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. She has worked for the Register since 2013. Previously, she lived in New York City while studying at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she covered the growing Mexican immigrant population in the city. Alma has also lived and studied in California’s rural and agricultural Central Valley. She’s an Orange County native from Costa Mesa, and in her spare time likes to read, visit libraries and drink good gin.